With a creaky sound of the door opening, Shang Zhen entered the dim kitchen, and then he saw the old soldier in dirty military uniform squatting on the ground, smoking "puffs".
The old soldier was also an old man. He smoked dry tobacco from a copper pipe about a foot long. The room was warm, but the hot breath and the pungent smell of tobacco mixed together, as if this was the true taste of the world.
Nowadays, the average life expectancy of Chinese people is not high, only about 40 years old, but the wrinkles on this old man's face show that he is much older than Wang Laobing, who is in his 40s.
Shang Zhen naturally knew this veteran because he was the company's cook squad leader.
Shang Zhen's eyes swept across the room. There was no food on the long row of simple tables.
"Uncle, did you leave any food for me?" Shang Zhen asked the old soldier respectfully.
The old soldier closed his eyes and said nothing. He just pointed his pipe at the big pot on the stove and continued to puff.
Shang Zhen ran towards the big pot. When he lifted the half-circular wooden lid, he grinned again. He felt the pain in his arm.
There are no iron pot lids nowadays. They are all made of wooden mortise and tenon joints.
This is a traditional craft of Chinese carpenters. Not a single nail is used in the entire process, and the furniture made is extremely strong, even the wooden towers that are dozens of meters high.
Although it is sturdy, it is also quite heavy. Especially since the lid is always on the pot, how can it not sink even if it is wet?
But hunger naturally overcomes the sourness and pain, and a moment later Shang Zhen was sitting alone at the long and narrow table and started eating.
The meal was a small bowl of sorghum rice, and the dish was stewed turnips and potatoes.
The so-called turnip is also called "gedabai" in Northeast China and "baocai" in the south. After stewing, this vegetable tastes like stewed pig food.
There is no way around it, simply because among the commonly used vegetables, kohlrabi has the highest yield and the cheapest price.
But Shang Zhen didn't care about that. He was really hungry. After eating voraciously, his flat stomach finally bulged out.
Shang Zhen reached out and touched his round belly, and at the same time felt his ribs. Alas, when would he be able to gain weight?
After finishing his meal, Shang Zhen hurried to the sink to wash the dishes and put them back where they should be.
When all was done, Shang Zhen did not forget to bow to the old soldier who was still puffing on his pipe and said, "Thank you, uncle!"
The old soldier waved his pipe again to indicate that you're welcome.
At this time, Zhang Zhen sat back at the long table and took out the folded letter.
He opened the letter and then carefully read the 4832 words written on it.
Shang Zhen knew all these characters and naturally understood their meaning.
He didn't know the word "Wokou" at first, but later Chen Hanwen also said the word "Wokou". For this reason, Shang Zhen specially consulted Chen Hanwen. According to Chen Hanwen, "Wokou" was a derogatory term for the Japanese.
When Shang Zhen looked at the words, Li Yajuan's round and pure face appeared in front of his eyes again.
But then he smiled and shook his head, folded the letter again and put it back in his pocket.
Regardless of whether it was Hou Kanshan or Qian Chuaner, everyone was talking about the fact that the female students came to see him, but Shang Zhen really didn't take it seriously.
First, he didn’t think there was anything between him and Li Yajuan.
Secondly, he also didn't like the weak and frail female students. He preferred the girls from the countryside with thick waists and round butts. Such a physique could help him work and give birth to children!
Thirdly——
Just when Shang Zhen realized his third reason, the old soldier's voice rang out behind him: "Little guy, why don't you read the love letter?"
When Shang Zhen turned around, the old soldier was already standing behind him, staring at him.
No one knew how the old man became a soldier, and he was the squad leader of the kitchen squad, but he had a problem with his eyes.
The so-called Kaba eyes refer to blinking.
Normal people will blink under normal circumstances, but the old soldier blinked obviously more times than others, so much so that Hou Kanshan said to the old soldier behind his back, "Look at that old Deng, he's blinking his eyes every day, and the eye boogers are stuck in his eyes like that!"
"What love letter? It's just someone expressing gratitude to me." Shang Zhen laughed, and at this time Shang Zhen realized that the incident of Li Yajuan sending him a letter was quite a big deal, and it turned out that the old soldier also knew about it.
"Then why doesn't he write to someone else but to you? It means he likes you." The old soldier laughed.
"Even if she likes me, I can't marry her." Shang Zhen said again, and this was the third reason he just realized why he couldn't be with Li Yajuan. "We're soldiers fighting in the war. If we die, we die. She's still a young girl. Wouldn't that be harmful to her?"
"Well, you are different from others, you are kind!" The old man was stunned for a moment after hearing Shang Zhen's words, and then he praised him approvingly.
After the old man praised him, Shang Zhen became shy again.
Shang Zhen stood up to leave, but then he realized that the old man didn't mean to let him leave now.
"I heard from Laomao Wang that you went out to practice some skills. Tell me, what did you practice?" the old man asked Shang Zhen again.
"I didn't practice anything. I just wanted to build up my strength and practice aiming and bayonet fighting." Shang Zhen answered, and then he suddenly realized something.
He had heard from Li Fushun that the company commander, platoon leaders and squad leaders in a company were all veterans and they all had real skills.
The other people with real skills are all in the kitchen.
Being in the kitchen squad is definitely a good job in a company. While others go to the front line to shoot guns and fight with bayonets, generally the kitchen squad does not go.
But what kind of people could join the kitchen team? Even the company commander's relatives might not be qualified. They were all veterans with rich combat experience.
As he got older and had more experience, he didn't want to fight in the front line. He was used to being in the army, so naturally he joined the kitchen team.
Could it be that the old man in front of me also has this ability?
Shang Zhen's expression changed as he thought about something. He blurted out, "Uncle, what skills can you teach me?"
"Ha!" The old man was immediately amused by what Shang Zhen said.
"I can't teach you any big skills, but I can tell you some small skills." The old man said with a smile.
"Then I'll call you Master from now on!" Shang Zhen's reaction was quick.
"No, no, no, don't be my apprentice! I don't have any tricks to teach you. What I can teach you is very simple, but it requires hard work!" The old man replied.
"That's fine. I'll learn whatever you teach me." Shang Zhen readily followed his advice.
In fact, even without the old man telling him, Shang Zhen understood that although he wanted to recognize the other person as his master, the other person might not necessarily want him as his apprentice.
There is a saying that "a master and his apprentice are like father and son", and there is also a saying that "the apprentice learns a lot and the master starves to death".
China is a society with a small peasant economy.
What is craft? Craft is what you make a living with!
It is always good to have a skill. Only with a skill can you earn money and support your family.
When a craftsman wants to pass on his skills to an apprentice, he must choose someone with good character.
After the apprentice has learned the master's skills, he will take care of the master in his old age and see him to the end of his life. He is really no different from his own son. This is traditional Chinese society.
Shang Zhen's father was a carpenter. Although the carpentry work was not the best, it was also a craft, so Shang Zhen naturally understood the logic behind it.
"I'm not afraid of hard work. I have to kill a few more Japanese and save my own life." Shang Zhen expressed his opinion to the old man.
Note: Lao Deng is an insult in Northeastern dialect, similar to "old thing".